The Cudgel and the Caress : Reflections on Cruelty and Tenderness

The Cudgel and the Caress explores the enduring significance of tenderness and cruelty in a range of works across philosophy, psychoanalysis, and literature. Divided into two parts, the book initially focuses on tenderness, with David Farrell Krell delivering original readings of Homer's Iliad , Sophocles's Antigone , and writings by Hölderlin, Hegel, Freud, and Derrida that deal with the importance of tenderness and the tragic consequences of its absence. Part One concludes with an extended reading of Robert Musil's Man Without Qualities , in which Krell analyzes the tender relationship between Ulrich and Agathe. In Part Two, Krell begins by examining Otto Rank's Birth Trauma , which reflects on the tenderness of gestation in the womb and the cruel necessity of birth. He then turns to an examination of cruelty in general, focusing on Derrida's challenge to contemporary psychoanalysis, his opposition between Kant and Nietzsche, and his analysis (and indictment) of the death penalty. Groundbreaking and insightful, the book provides a rare philosophical treatment of subjects vital to the world we live in. Contents 8 Preface 10 Key to the Principal Sources Cited 14 Works by Jacques Derrida 14 Works by Sigmund Freud 16 Works by Hegel 16 Works by Heidegger 16 Works by Friedrich Hölderlin 17 Works by Schelling 18 Works by Other Authors 18 Introduction 20 Part One: Tenderness (Zärtlichkeit) 28 1. Tenderness and Tragedy 30 2. Homer’s Iliad, Hölderlin’s Briseiad 56 3. Tender Antigone—Forever Younger 78 4. Tender Schlegel, Irascible Hegel 100 5. Pulling Strings Wins No Wisdom 128 6. A Woman Without Qualities? 162 Part Two: Cruelty (Grausamkeit) 202 7. Caress of Gestation, Cudgel of Birth 204 1. “The Analytical Situation” 208 2. “Infantile Anxiety” 211 3. “Sexual Satisfaction” 213 4. “Neurotic [and Psychotic] Reproduction” 217 5. “Symbolic Adaptation” 220 8. The Nervous System of a Specter 232 9. Freedom, Imputability, Cruelty 270 10. Cruelty, Power, Art, Tenderness 290 Index 326